NIkkor 8mm fish-eye lens f:8

Last week I bought a near mint example of a black 8mm Nikkor Fish-

eye lens with original front an rear lens cap and also the original

8mm viewfinder (this lens should be used with the camera mirror in

the up position. I did not try it yet and I am just wondering if I

can hear some comments on this lens like performance and picture

result. I will not sell it and I am just curious if it is a rare

lens or not. Thank you for any comment.

"Anyway, as it had a very short life cycle (discontinued, replaced with the 7.5mm f/5.6) in 1966 and some may term it as a classic piece and essentially it was treated as a collector item now [...]"

 

You can find some info here: http://www.mir.com.my/rb/photography/companies/nikon/nikkoresources/6070nikkor/fisheyes/rjohnson/8mmfish.htm

 

That's all I know (except that I would not mind owning one :))

Jonas, tks for your fast response to my unswer and also for the very informative link.

Rgds from Brazil

Antonio

As a rather specialised and expensive lens it was never made in large quantities. Lenses like this are largely collectors items these days. The series is believed to begin with serial number 88010 and end at 89288, a total of 1378 lenses. See my list of nikon lenses http://www.photosynthesis.co.nz/nikon/serialno.html

 

I have seen lenses from 88108 - 89241 which seems to support this range although the start serial number is unusual as most Nikon lenses start with xxx001 or xxx011. If your lens has a serial number outside this range please let me know so I can update my list. As for lens reviews try http://www.naturfotograf.com/lens_fish.html

Dear Roland,

What a excellent and informative website you have!! Congratulations! I have it bookmarked for future references and researches! I am allways interested on Nikon (rangefinder and SLR) cameras for my collection. Serial number of my lens is 89137 so my lens in inside your (nikon factory) range. Again, I really appreciate you response to my questions. Although in near mint condition I still d?ont have the original leather carrying case (i?m still looking to find one). Thank you again and regards from Brazil.

PS-I found my 8mm lens and viewfinder in a antique flea market here in Sao Paulo and I was told that it belongs to an ammateur photographer (it makes sense because it?s like new). The only thing that bother me is that some of the built in filters has some dirty inside so maybe in the future I will send it for a CLA.

8mm in a flea mart?! You never know what turns up there, do you? :) Was it cheap?

Hi there, not so cheap, seller deals with vintage/used cameras and lenses and he knew that lens is sough after......

Hey Antonio, that lens above referenced by the www.mir.com.my/ is my lens. I have owned it since new in 1964. It came back with some other Nikon equipment straight from the Nikon factory in Tokyo after the 1964 Olympics. I have all the caps, case and original paperwork somewhere. It's easy to take apart and clean. Only warning I might have is to make sure the filters click into place. If not, you'll get "half moon" pictures or none at all. Sharpness is good enough for me. Be sure that your forehead or feet aren't in the picture. The red filter is good enough for infrared and the orange one for Kodak EIR color. Be sure you give it enough exposure since you'll range from maybe bright sky with possibly the sun to deep shade. Bracket a stop or two and you'll be sure to be OK. Questions, the e-mail on that URL is many years out of date. Try me@robertejohnson.com.

 

Robert Johnson